Another Year Of Work For Point State Park Fountain

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – The fountain at Point State Park is as much a part of the imagery of the Golden Triangle as Fifth Avenue Place, PPG Place or the U.S. Steel Tower and for three years it’s been silent.

“Hopefully we’ll be able to put final touches, testing and the completion into late spring of 2013,” Matt Greene, Point State Park manager, said.

This next generation of the fountain will spout all the old elements with a new twist called an infinity wall.

“That infinity edge wall will be about 18 inches higher than this is as well,” Greene said. “That wall will be back lit at night time. The water will be held in that inner ring, spill over the wall to have that nice kind of disappearing edge waterfall.”

It took considerable private contributions to get the fountain back on track.

“Five million dollars were raised to contribute to the construction,” Lisa Schroeder, of Riverlife, said.

While the new piping has been laid and the fountain’s electronics lifted above flood stage, there is still a lot of work ahead and another summer without the fountain.

“Once the fountain is done, no more construction in Point State Park so people can come down and enjoy their lunch hour, come down on the weekends, come down and experience the events and once again have that vibrancy in Point State Park without having to deal with fences and construction vehicles and the like,” Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, D-Pittsburgh, said.

John Shumway joined KDKA-TV in October 1988 as a General Assignment Reporter.
During his years at KDKA-TV, he has anchored the morning and weekend news and is currently a featured General Assignment Reporter on the station's 5 and 6pm newscasts....